The following article will be published in the September issue ofCampus Talk, a magazine distributed in Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville and Tallahassee. If you're a local, pick one up and increase their circulation. They also have lots of pictures of pretty girls for extra motivation.
We have been patient the entire summer and September means we are finally rewarded with football… glorious football. This season brings new hope for thirty-two NFL teams and while San Diego, New England, Indianapolis and Dallas are overwhelming favorites to win a championship, the Giants proved last year that the Super Bowl winner can be anyone’s guess.
AFC East: The chances the Patriots lose this division are about as good as George Bush becoming our next president. Although the Pats won their first eighteen games last year, this year they should come out with a chip on their shoulders after losing their last. The Dolphins begin the Bill Parcells era and the Bills are also loaded with question marks. Not much is expected from either of them. The Jets, however, will have a significantly new look. Brett Favre traded one green uniform for another and has decided to continue his career under center for the Jets. This move, at a minimum, will make a Patriots-dominated division slightly more interesting.
AFC North: The Browns finally gave their fans something to cheer about as they finished 10-6 and barely missed the playoffs. Traditional division rivals, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, both return strong teams. The Steelers should prove they’re the class of the division while Bengal fans hope their team can finally live up to expectations. Their offense is as potent as any in the league, however, continued mediocrity will mean it’s only a matter of time before Chad Johnson opens his mouth. The Ravens will continue their quarterback search and should reside near the bottom of the division.
AFC South: Indianapolis is once again the favorite to win this division, however, the Jaguars remain a worthy adversary. Unfortunately for Jacksonville, Peyton Manning is still a Colt. With all four teams in the division finishing .500 or better last season, the Titans and Texans have proven they will not go quietly. Titan fans want to see how Vince Young, entering his third season, will lead this team while the expansion Houston Texans can no longer be considered a bye.
AFC West: Could this finally be the Chargers year? They cleared a major post-season hurdle last year by winning in Indianapolis, but came up short against New England. The Chargers should win this division but Denver, Kansas City and Oakland stand in their way. Denver, 7-9 last year, had their most disappointing season in recent memory and look to return to their usual form. Kansas City should be improved but is still rebuilding. A young Oakland Raiders team led by JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden could turn some heads.
NFC East: Long considered the most competitive division in football, this season should prove no exception. The Cowboys, Giants, Eagles and Redskins all have the talent to win their division, if not the Super Bowl. While Dallas is the prohibitive favorite, the Giants want to prove they’re no one-hit wonder. The Redskins look to new head coach, Jim Zorn, and young quarterback Jason Campbell to lead the way. Philadelphia still led by Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb will try to return to Super Bowl form.
NFC North: This division will have a different look this year with Brett Favre no longer in Green Bay. As Aaron Rodgers takes his place, rest assured his every move will be scrutinized. Minnesota hopes Adrian Peterson can build upon his successful rookie campaign. Chicago still has quarterback issues and could be a long way away from solving them. Detroit has a talented roster but after predicting a ten-win season last year, Jon Kitna remained con####uously quiet this summer.
NFC South: While NFC East teams stage weekly battles for division supremacy, the NFC South rivalries pale in comparison. While Tampa Bay won the division last year, the Saints are likely to rebound from a sub-par season, pending a healthy Deuce McAllister. The Panthers, only four seasons removed from a Super Bowl, try to figure out how things have gone wrong. The Falcons begin life after Michael Vick and will look to their future, Matt Ryan, to lead the way.
NFC West: Seattle, sans Shaun Alexander, embark upon their last season under coach Mike Holmgren. While this could be the season fans finally see the Arizona Cardinals live up to their potential, Matt Leinart will have to put down the beer bong first. In San Francisco, the Alex Smith experiment continues as RB Frank Gore remains the star of the offense. St Louis will look to rebound from a year where they were unable to keep any opponent out of the end zone.
Football is a fickle sport. It’s a game of inches. Just ask Kevin Dyson. Games can be won or lost by a missed tackle, an errant pass, or a poor coaching decision. Entire seasons can be deflated by a botched snap or hold. Just ask Tony Romo. In the NFL, the difference between 8-8 and 9-7 can mean someone’s job and toy with the emotions of avid fans nationwide. Often 14-2 isn’t good enough. Just ask Marty Schottenheimer. This year 4-1 and 5-0 separates a Super Bowl contender from a team that still has weaknesses. We were all witness to this Monday night in what has become an instant classic as the Cowboys eked out a victory over Buffalo with history stacked against them.
This past Monday night’s game featured everything… interceptions, fumbles, game winning field goals, runbacks, recovered onside kicks…. everything except for a Bills victory. In a game that featured six Dallas turnovers, for all of which QB Tony Romo was accountable, the Cowboys miraculously completed a (second) field goal from 53 yards as the game clock struck zero. This was the type of game that can catapult the Cowboys into continued success this season. It’s also the type of game that can destroy morale for the losing team. The Bills, who have now lost their second game of the season to a last second field goal, if not careful, can easily head in that direction.
In every quarter except the one that mattered most, Buffalo was able to put points on the board after Dallas miscues. In the first quarter, George Wilson stepped in front of a Tony Romo pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. In the second quarter, Romo was intercepted yet again, this time by defensive end Chris Kelsay, who almost effortlessly ran the ball in for another score. Dallas seemed cooked, well-done even, if you count the 103-yard kick-off runback by Terrence McGee. The Bills were up by 11 points going into the fourth quarter and clearly had momentum, and Romo’s errant arm, on their side. Then the Bills remembered they’re the Bills.
Lesson to NFL coaches who haven’t already learned this the hard way… don’t stop playing until the clock reads 0:00. Dallas narrowed the lead to eight early in the fourth quarter then scored again with twenty seconds left on the clock. Patrick Clayton caught the touchdown pass, but Big D still needed a two-point conversion to tie… which they failed to convert. Dallas recovered the onside kick attempt and proceeded to chew up enough yards to get into field goal range.
Then Nick Folk broke Buffalo’s hearts… twice. After splitting the uprights with a booming 53-yard field goal, the referees revealed Coach Jauron had called time out in time. Well, the second time was a charm for Nick Folk as he put his next attempt in nearly exactly through the uprights, like a dagger through Buffalo’s heart.
This game served as a reminder to just how little it takes to lose a game that you’ve already inked in the win column, and how easily a team on a roll can steal victory from the arms of defeat. The undefeated Cowboys now take on arguably the best team in the league, while the Bills are left to salvage their season and wonder what could have been.
After a short hiatus, He Said She Said returns with a request from one of our fellow bloggers. Hoit suggested Bluegrass and I tackle the age-old question of who was the better overall, NFL running back, Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith.
This month marks the fifth anniversary of the breaking of one of the NFL’s most hallowed records. On October 27, 2002, Emmitt Smith surpassed Walter Payton as the league’s leading rusher. His record of 18,355 career yards stands to this day and is in no danger of being broken any time soon. Yet despite holding this and several other league records, many often claim Barry Sanders was a better, overall running back. Proponents of Sanders claim Smith had the good fortune of playing with a better team and behind a better offensive line and was thus granted more of an opportunity to thrive. A closer look at Emmitt’s numbers, however, tells an astonishing story of consistency, durability and unrivaled post-season accolades that give him the nod as the better career back.
After leaving the University of Florida as their leading rusher at the time, Smith was drafted in 1990 by the Dallas Cowboys. Emmitt was an integral part of Dallas’ turnaround. The year prior to his arrival, Dallas was 1-15. Within years they were Super Bowl Champions. His presence and consistency in the backfield fueled the Cowboys’ success. Beginning his second year in the league, Emmitt ran off a string of eleven consecutive 1,000 yard rushing seasons, becoming the first back to ever do so. Emmitt Smith tied Jim Brown’s record by starting his career with seven consecutive ten-touchdown seasons. He was Dallas’ workhorse. Accordingly, he is also the league leader in career rushing attempts.
But it was Emmitt Smith’s ability to find the end zone and his post-season play that defined him and solidified his legacy in NFL history. While Sanders racked up rushing yards at a robotic pace, his ability to score lagged well behind Emmitt’s. Within the 1992-95 seasons, Barry Sanders had 30 rushing touchdowns; Emmitt had 74. Within that same period, he also led his team to three Super Bowls, while the Lions lost three consecutive playoff games. Smith ended his career with 175 touchdowns compared to Sanders’ 109. Smith is second in career touchdowns only to the immortal Jerry Rice.
Emmitt’s most impressive season was undoubtedly 1993. Although his numbers that season were not as gaudy as in others, that year Smith became the only back to win a Super Bowl, the NFL MVP, the rushing title and the Super Bowl MVP. The beginning of that season was a contract year for Emmitt. He held out the first two games, both of which Dallas lost, until eventually signing a four-year, $13.6 million deal, making him the highest-paid back in the league at the time. That turned out to be money well spent as the Dallas franchise, with Emmitt back in their lineup, rallied to win 15 of their next 17 games on their way to consecutive Super Bowl victories. While Emmitt was an essential part of Dallas’ success over the years, Detroit may very likely have been just as mediocre without Barry Sanders.
For all his flash and dazzle, Barry Sanders’ post-season career was A-Rodesque at best. In six career playoff games, his Lions were 1-5. Sanders rushed for 386 yards and scored only one post-season touchdown in those six games. Conversely, Emmitt Smith played in 19 post-season games, going 14-5, while scoring 21 touchdowns. Emmitt has scored more Super Bowl touchdowns (5) than any other player in history. Barry also only had one 100-yard rushing game in his post-season career, while Emmitt had seven. Consider that between 1991 and 1996, Emmitt essentially played a whole extra season, by playing in fifteen post-season games, and amassing nearly 2,000 all-purpose yards. Within that time frame, he only missed four games, two of them due to the aforementioned holdout. He was a model of consistency and the driving force behind the 1990s Dallas dynasty.
While Sanders is unquestionably one of the best running backs of all-time, his numbers simply do not live up to those of Emmitt Smith. Sanders was famous for chewing up huge tracks of yardage, but his scoring numbers clearly pale in comparison. While many argue that Emmitt Smith had better players surrounding him, one can also argue that Sanders’ career rushing numbers are inflated as the Lions had no other offensive outlet. What cannot be debated, however, is the difference between these two backs when it mattered most. Year after year, Smith rose to the occasion after the regular season, while Sanders post-season career fluttered. Any such comparison between these two Hall of Fame backs must take those numbers into perspective when determining the better overall back.
In this week's edition of He Said/She Said, Bluegrass Lady and I argue whether we would send our kids to play basketball under Bobby Knight. As always, your comments and opinions are welcome.
Bobby Knight’s coaching legacy is undeniable. Last year, he became the winningest coach in college basketball history. He has led three University of Indiana teams to national titles. In 1975-76, he coached the last team to go undefeated for an entire season, an effort that seems more and more unattainable with time. Dating back to his first years coaching at Army in the 1960s, Knight has won an astonishing 71% of the games he has coached. In his over forty years of coaching at the highly competitive college level, the man known as ‘The General’ has won nearly 900 contests and his graduation rate is as high as anyone’s in the NCAA. He is a three-time national coach of the year and at a six-time Big Ten coach of the year. Needless to say, his resume speaks for itself.
Despite these accomplishments, in 2000, Bobby Knight was released from duty at the University of Indiana for his lengthy record of insubordination and physical altercation. The controversy surrounding Knight’s career is as noteworthy as his on-court success. Dating back nearly forty years, Knight has repeatedly been involved in acts of physical violence with police officers, students, players and fans. His tirades are as legendary as his coaching record.
He is probably most famous for his 1985 outburst where he tossed a chair clear across the court during a conference game against in-state rival Purdue. That incident, however, was only the tip of the iceberg. There was his famous 1988 interview with Connie Chung where he stated on-air that if rape were inevitable, why not lay back and enjoy it. In 1993, Knight kicked his son who played on the team. Later that season, he head butted another player during a timeout. In 1999, he was investigated for allegedly choking a man outside a local restaurant. In 2000, the University investigated Knight for choking a former player, Neil Reed. The list of Knight’s indiscretions presents a colorful rap sheet. After former I.U. President Myles Brand imposed a ‘zero tolerance’ policy against Knight, he was ultimately fired for grabbing a student that failed to “show him respect” by addressing him simply as “Knight.”
Knight’s disciplinarian mindset failed to attract local Indiana high school phenoms such as Shawn Kemp and Zach Randolph in a state where playing in Assembly Hall is a childhood dream. Top athletes simply refused to play for a madman and submit themselves to four years of brutality.
In the modern basketball landscape, players do not have to put up with that sort of physical or psychological abuse. Despite his coaching legacy, there are countless other coaches these days that can teach today’s youth the game without leaving strangle marks around their necks. Although Knight has more career victories than any other coach, Tubby Smith, Lute Olson, Bob Huggins, Jim Beoheim, John Calipari, Rick Pitino, Mark Few, Bruce Pearl, Mike Krzyzewski and Thad Matta are all active coaches with higher winning percentages. Billy Donovan and Roy Williams have successfully taught discipline and respect while winning the last three national championships without putting their hands on players or wearing them down mentally. Knight is unquestionably a basketball genius, but he doesn’t hold a monopoly on the wisdom required to reach the sport.
Despite not having coached there for seven years, Bob Knight is still a hero in Indiana. His name is legendary and synonymous with success. It is also, however, synonymous with rage. With the wide range of excellence in the coaching ranks today, it would be awfully hard to justify sending a child to play for a loose cannon like Knight. While the General has preached discipline over his forty years of coaching, it is actually his own lack of restraint that has tarnished his coaching legacy.
As I flip through the channels not even one full week after the NBA Finals have reached their anti-climactic conclusion, I’ve begun looking for some other quality source of entertainment. Sure, we have the upcoming NBA Draft and potential blockbuster off-season trades to analyze. But if I’m force fed one more reality, dancing, talent, cooking, tattoo and plastic surgery elimination tv show, I may very well cancel my cable altogether.
For those sports fan still scorned by the last baseball work stoppage, there’s absolutely nothing to watch until football season starts. My ESPNews marathons no longer have the same flair. Woe is me. I must consult my basketball jones, blogging brethren Hoffman, Mr Showtime and GR8UN54 to see how they’re coping in the off-season.
For me, the two weeks after basketball season ends have always been a difficult adjustment period. So for those who suffer the same summer doldrums, I thought I’d offer some suggestions to make these next few months fly by. Feel free to help me out, because like you, I’m impatiently counting down the days until September 1st.
1) Watch the WNBA (just joking)
2) Watch Major League Baseball (again… just joking)
3) Read a book
4) Satisfy your bloodlust by becoming a UFC fan
5) Monitor the inevitable off-season Kobe drama by posting a life-size timeline on your living room wall detailing negotiations between Bryant, Buss, Kupchak, Jackson and West (I know some of you have already done this)
6) Help Pac Man Jones open up his own strip club
7) Count down the days until ESPN airs their first full-length Terrell Owens interview
8) Blog to your little hearts content
9) Actually spend time with friends and family
10) Wonder if anyone other than the University of Florida will ever win another national championship in any major sport
11) Discover a newfound hatred for the New York Yankees
12) Hunt down Brady Anderson: the real key to the steroid scandal in major league baseball
Let’s take a break from talking about sports, the T.O. and ‘Melo, Isiah and the B.C.S. for just a split second, shall we?
The holiday season always reminds me of family. It’s a time when we all get together and enjoy each other’s company. Well, when I think of family, I think dysfunctional. Hey, it’s what I know. After recently watching “Little Miss Sunshine,” I felt inspired to compile my personal, top 10 list of all-time dysfunctional family movies.
First, let’s set down some ground rules before continuing. It’s nearly impossible to compare dramas to comedies to thrillers, however, legitimate comparisons can be drawn between films that have similar, central themes. For this Top 10 list, the dysfunctional family must be the focus of the film. Although movies like “The Godfather,” “Raging Bull,” or “Do The Right Thing,” (all which would have made my list) highlight dysfunctional families in one respect or another, the dysfunctional family is not quite the central focus of the movie. One might argue the family serves as the backdrop for “The Godfather.” I’d respect that opinion. However, I’ve kept it off this list to give other movies a fair shake. Accordingly, here is my list of top ten “dysfunctional family” films of the past thirty years.
10. “Garden State” - This movie’s got it all. (I may be saying that quite often on this list) Zach Braff’s character returns home from school for his mother’s funeral, where he confronts the estranged relationship that’s developed between him and his father. He rejoins his high school mates and ends up falling for Natalie Portman (uh… who wouldn’t) as she helps him open up and cope with his mother’s death. It’s a comedy, drama, romance all wrapped into one, not to mention the funniest scene featuring a character in full, body armor since “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and “The Cable Guy."
9. “Parenthood” – Billed as a comedy, this film features its fair share of dramatic moments. It tackles the entire gamut of family issues: relationships, infidelity, childbirth, divorce, sex, miscommunication, parenting and adoption. “Parenthood” also features an all-star cast including Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, Dianne Wiest, Sam Robards, Keanu Reeves, Thomas Hulce and Joaquin Phoenix. There’s not a scene in this film that doesn’t highlight and lowlight the family experience.
8. “The Upside of Anger” – When I saw the previews for this movie as it was released in 2005, I nearly barfed at the thought of another Kevin Costner playing another retired baseball player. However, this film is far heavier than that. At the foundation, we have Joan Allen’s daughters struggling with their mother’s alcoholism and their father’s abandonment. “Upside” is not a chick flick. Plus it features the smoky, Erika Christensen.
7. “Slums of Beverly Hills” – Alan Arkin plays the father of this traveling family, doing the best he can to raise his three children on a meager salary, while his brother makes millions. Dysfunction runs rampant in this comedy, not to mention the vibrator scene with Marisa Tomei and Natasha Lyonne is a classic.
6. “Little Miss Sunshine” – Consecutive Alan Arkin films. A fantastic script, this film will make you laugh and cry. Greg Kinnear loads his homsexual, suicidal, intellectual brother-in-law, his silent son, and his heroine-shooting father into his ever-stalling and ever-honking, VW bug and leaves New Mexico for California to have his daughter participate in her dream pageant. Dysfunction throughout, as witnessed in the final scene where the family bumrushes the stage at the pageant.
5. “Soul Food” – The essence of dysfunction. This epic features a broad cast of characters and the division of a once tightly-knit, family is the central theme. Once the grandmother, the core of the family, passes away tragically, her surviving family is torn apart. The grandson does his part to reunite the family, now distanced by several issues. Not only did HBO base a series off this film, any time you can get Vanessa Williams, Vivica Fox and Nia Long on the screen at the same time, I’m game. Williams’ performance is so convincing, she almost rids herself of her hotness.
4. “Kramer vs Kramer” – This film defined, in grim, emotional detail, what families going through divorce must confront. “Kramer vs. Kramer” won five academy awards, including best picture and nods for both Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.
3. “Ordinary People” – I’ll just say this. I used to love Mary Tyler Moore. After watching this movie, I can barely stand to look at her. Now THAT’S acting!!!
2. “ Flirting With Disaster” – Hey, it’s my list and if I want to put a comedy at the top, I’ll do it. This little known film (if you haven’t seen it, rent it) features another all-star cast, including Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Tea Leoni and a list of surprise characters. Ben Stiller’s searches to find his natural parents and in the process alienates his wife, falls for the adoption agency psychologist, wrecks a tractor-trailer and some nice figurines, encounters two traveling homosexual detectives and eventually reunites with his acid-dealing parents, played by Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda. Not only does this film redefine dysfunctional, it encouraged a string of films and television series to revive the careers of countless actors.
1. “American Beauty” - I wanted to put “Flirting” on the top of this list, but this film’s resume cannot be argued with. Released in 1999, it won five academy awards, including best picture, best director and best actor, and was nominated for three more. The film features two neighboring dysfunctional families, including Kevin Spacey facing a mid-life crisis, the unfaithful Annette Benning, the homophobic, Marine colonel Chris Cooper, and his nearly comatose wife, Allison Janney. If you weren’t moved by this film when you first watched it, you were raised in a vacuum.
Honorable Mention: “Meet the Parents” series; the “Vacation” series’ “Family Business”; “Napoleon Dynamite”; “My Cousin Vinny”; “She’s The One”; “Pleasantville”; "The Birdcage"; "The Royal Tennenbaums"; "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"
Again, these are merely my opinions. If you haven’t seen the aforementioned films, I highly recommend them for your viewing pleasure. If I failed to mention any, by all means, bring it to my attention and I’ll gladly stand corrected.
Happy Holidays and don’t forget to enjoy your family meals.
Turn-ons: Gator national championships ; Sushi; NBA Playoffs; A Tribe Called Quest; Women; Jack Daniels; Women who drink Jack Daniels; Women who drink Jack Daniels while eating sushi; Women who dream of more Gator national championships while eating sushi and drinking Jack Daniels during basketball season, The Red Zone Report
Turn-offs: Waking up early; The inevitable media coverage Bobby Bowden will get when he finally retires; Drama; Prejudice; Chicken liver; Work of any sort
